Chapter 68 The Dragon King's Right Hand and the Last Alpha
Jaden’s celestial blade, a shimmering ribbon of compressed starlight, cut a searing arc through the air, aimed directly at Klishei. The air crackled, metallic tang flooding Klishei’s senses. A scream tore from her throat, but it was lost in the roar that erupted from Yeseus.
He moved, a blur of raw power, faster than anything Klishei had ever witnessed. One moment, he stood several paces away; the next, he was between her and the knight. His body became a living shield, broad shoulders absorbing the brunt of Jaden’s attack.
“Run, Klishei!” he bellowed, his voice laced with urgency.
But even as the words left his lips, a shimmering, opaque barrier erupted from him, enveloping Klishei completely. It materialized from thin air, a dome of swirling gold, separating her from the maelstrom. She slammed against its inner surface, the sudden shift in reality jarring her. The world outside became a distorted watercolor painting, the sounds muffled, distant. Panic clawed at her throat. She beat against the golden wall, her fists pounding, but it held firm, unyielding.
“Yeseus!” she screamed, her voice trapped, swallowed by the shield. Her eyes, wide and terrified, focused on the scene unfolding before her.
Jaden, his face a mask of cold determination, pressed his attack. The celestial blade hummed, carving streaks of light against Yeseus’s golden defense. Yeseus met each strike with a savage ferocity, his movements fluid, powerful. He was a whirlwind of claws and teeth, a primal force against Jaden’s calculated precision. His body, infused with a desperate strength, moved with an almost impossible speed, deflecting blows, countering with devastating power.
Each collision between Yeseus’s raw, golden energy and Jaden’s shimmering blade sent shockwaves through the courtyard. Stones buckled, ancient trees groaned, their branches swaying violently. Klishei watched, helpless, her heart a frantic drum against her ribs. She saw the cosmic knights, held at bay by the residual energy radiating from Yeseus, their own weapons glowing with restrained power. They were waiting, circling like vultures, for their moment.
Yeseus roared again, a sound of pure agony mixed with rage. A crack appeared in his golden aura, a spiderweb fracture radiating from where Jaden’s blade had connected. Black tendrils, wisps of shadow, writhed within the fracture, attempting to seep into his essence. The blight. It was feeding on his exertion, his pain.
“Stubborn beast,” Jaden muttered, his honey eyes hardening. He raised his free hand, and a sphere of shimmering cosmic energy coalesced in his palm. He hurled it at Yeseus.
The sphere struck Yeseus mid-lunge. He cried out, a raw, tormented sound that tore at Klishei’s soul. The golden aura around him flared, then flickered, barely containing the explosive impact. He staggered, his movements slowing, his breath coming in ragged gasps. The black tendrils of the blight pulsed, growing bolder, spreading across his skin like an insidious ink.
Klishei hammered against the shield, tears streaming down her face. “Stop! Leave him alone!”
“He is protecting me!” Klishei shrieked, her own power flaring, a golden light attempting to push against the inner surface of the shield. It rippled, distorting the scene outside even further, but it did not break. Yeseus’s will, even in his pain, held it firm.
Yeseus stumbled, a hand clutching his side. His breath hitched, a choked gasp. The blight, visible now to Klishei even through the shimmering shield, had consumed a part of his left arm, turning the skin a sickly, mottled grey. Yet, his eyes, though clouded with pain, still burned with an unyielding resolve. He met Jaden’s gaze, a silent challenge passing between them.
“You will not touch her,” Yeseus rasped, his voice strained, each word a monumental effort. He stood his ground, a defiant sentinel, even as his body screamed in protest.
Jaden scoffed. “A dying Alpha’s last stand. How poetic.” He brought his blade down in a swift, brutal arc.
This time, Yeseus didn’t just deflect. He caught the blade, his bare hands closing around the shimmering starlight. A hiss of pain escaped him, and Klishei saw blood, dark and viscous, seep between his fingers. The golden aura around his hands pulsed violently, struggling to contain the celestial energy. His muscles strained, cords of steel beneath rapidly decaying skin.
“Yeseus, no!” Klishei screamed, her voice hoarse, her throat raw. She pressed her face against the golden barrier, her breath fogging the inner surface. She could feel his pain, a dull throb resonating through the shield, a shared agony that tore at her.
His strength was waning. The blight, once a slow erosion, had accelerated, consuming him with terrifying speed. His powerful frame, once so formidable, seemed to shrink, to shrivel. Yet, he held Jaden’s blade, his grip unyielding.
“Leave… us… alone,” Yeseus gritted out, his eyes blazing with a final, desperate fury. He pushed, a surge of power erupting from him, throwing Jaden backward.
Jaden landed with a grunt, his armor scraping against the stone. He regained his footing quickly, his expression now one of cold, calculating anger. “Enough of this charade.”
Yeseus llet out a desperate, primal roar. He forgot his wounds, forgot the blight, forgot everything but her safety. He lunged towards Jaden, a feral, unstoppable force.
Jaden, caught off guard by the Alpha’s renewed attack, barely had time to react. He turned, his celestial blade flashing. It met Yeseus’s chest, not a glancing blow, but a deep, penetrating strike.
A horrifying gurgle escaped Yeseus’s lips. His eyes widened, a look of profound shock and agony replacing his fury. The golden aura around him sputtered, then died, leaving him exposed, vulnerable. The blight, given free rein, surged, consuming his chest, his torso, turning his skin into a patchwork of living flesh and decaying shadow. He coughed, a spray of dark blood staining his chin. His legs buckled.
Klishei watched, frozen in horror, as Yeseus staggered, the celestial blade still impaled in his chest. His hand, now almost entirely consumed by the blight, reached out, not for Jaden, but for her. His fingers brushed against the shield, a faint, almost imperceptible touch.
“Klishei,” he whispered, his voice a ragged gasp, barely audible. His eyes, once vibrant blue, were fading, dimming like dying stars.
He collapsed, a heavy, lifeless thud against the cobblestones. The golden shield around Klishei, no longer sustained by his will, shimmered, then dissolved into glittering motes of light, leaving her exposed, vulnerable, and utterly alone.
The silence that followed was deafening, broken only by the chirping of crickets, oblivious to the tragedy that had unfolded. Klishei stood, trembling, staring at Yeseus’s still form. The celestial blade still protruded from his chest, a cruel monument to his sacrifice. The blight, a grotesque tapestry of decay, spread rapidly across his body, claiming him entirely.
Jaden stood over him, his face impassive, his blade stained with a strange, dark blood. The cosmic knights, their weapons lowered, watched the scene with detached curiosity.
Klishei fell to her knees, a guttural sob tearing from her throat. She crawled towards Yeseus, her hands reaching out, desperate to touch him, to feel his warmth, to bring him back. Her fingers brushed against his cold skin, the blight a horrifying testament to his death.